Ask Carl

Our agony uncleCarl Wilkinsonsorts your problems

I'm worried that I won't be able to survive on the student loan. Do you have any tips for budgeting?Paul, Leicester

I've had a sackful of queries like this one, so here are my top five tips for frugality:1 Don't spend your entire student loan at once on an expensive hi-fi/holiday.

2 Do take up every free lunch offer when parents (your own or anybody else's) come to visit.

3 Sign up at your local police station for identity parades. They pay good rates for shifty-looking students.

4 Visit your parents. It may cost £20 on the bus, but it'll save you a fortune in food and drink.

5 Join the Army and get them to pay for everything (only do this if things get desperate in your final year and the political situation seems stable).

Oh, and get yourself a credit card, asap.

Earlier this summer, I received some information on the English course that I'm starting this term. Included was a reading list of about 50 books. I've read three so far. Have you got any tips on how to survive what is obviously going to be a difficult course?James, Reading

Difficult? Pull yourself together, man, you're doing English for heaven's sake. Think of those poor wretches doing languages or law or physics - courses where you actually have to learn something.

It's a fundamental tenet of the study of English that tutors and lecturers compile lists of books and students read them (the lists that is, not the books). In fact, the whole basis of contemporary English literature is based upon lists - just look at the work of Nick Hornby or Helen Fielding. All you have to do is make sure you have a good working knowledge of the list (chronology, authorship, exact titles) and you're sorted.

Failing that, get yourself down to the bookshop sharpish and pick up a stack of York Notes. (They are adequate for degree studies, too.)

I'm trying to work out what to pack for my first term at university. Is there anything you'd recommend as being vital?Suzanne, Cardiff

Vodka. You'll find it useful for everything, from spin the bottle to commiserating with your depressed next-door neighbour. And, once word gets round that you're in possession of some hooch, you'll find yourself with more friends than you'll know what to do with.

My auntie has been trying to give me some pre-university advice, but it all sounds a bit dire. She started reminiscing about her university days when she'd cook three-course meals for next to nothing on a small stove. Then she suggested that when I go to university I organise communal cooking in my halls of residence. Is this really a good idea?Dominic, Edinburgh

No. It's a terrible idea. Your aunt is clearly out of touch with the pace of modern life. About a month ago, one of the more pro-muesli newspapers was trying to flog a book on the back of the idea that students could effectively come together and cook for each other - no doubt many of you received this as a pre-uni gift. Trust me, it won't work.

The only thing that students can effectively organise is Freshers' Week and I don't remember there being much food involved in that.

Accept the fact that you will be spending the next three years alone, hunkered over a steaming Pot Noodle while perched on your single bed watching a small black and white television showing The Best of David Dickinson or some such horror. It's part of the university experience.